The
Bombay High Court on Monday sought the Maharashtra government's reply on a
public interest litigation (PIL) filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy
challenging the Pandharpur Temples Act.
In
the petition filed in February this year, Swamy claimed the Maharashtra
government had taken over the administration of the Pandharpur town's temples
in an arbitrary manner.
A
division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S
Doctor on Monday directed the government to file its affidavit and posted the
matter for hearing on September 13.
As
per the plea, the state government through the Pandharpur Temples Act, 1973,
had abolished all hereditary rights and privileges of ministrants and priestly
classes for the governance and administration of the temples of Lord Vitthal
and Rukmini in Pandharpur in the state's Solapur district.
The
law enabled the state government to control its administration and management
of funds, the plea said.
On
Monday, another person Bheemacharya Balacharya, who claimed to be part of the
Dharma Rakshak Trust, sought to intervene in the matter.